Machine for filling cushions



April 21, 1925. Q 1,534,062 J. A. FLOOD v MACHINE FOR FILLING CUSHIONS Filed March 23 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet l fnuemon his .Fffarney,

April 21, 1925.

J. A. FLOOD MACHINE FOR FILLING cusmous File d March 23 192 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l l l frwen/an Joim- Fzwd April 21, 1925.

J. A. FLOOD MAOHiNE FOR FILLING CUSHIONS Filed March 25 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 if I fm/erffar Fig. 4

Patented Apr. 21, W25.

UNITE STATES JOHN A. FLOOD, 0F MINNEAFOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNQR TO NORTHXiVESTERN REED AND RATTAN COMPANY, OF IVIIIINEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

MACHINE roe FILLING CUSHIONS.

Application filed March 23, 1921. Serial no. 454,618.

To allwlwm it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. FLooD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, county of Hennepin, and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Filling Cushions, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to cushion stufling machines and has for its object to provide a device of this kind in which a great quantity of padding may be tightly compressed and stuffed within the cover of the cushion so that the padding will be uniformly laid to give a smooth and full appearance to the cushion after the same is completed.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the operation of the de vice may be expeditiously performed.

Anothe object of the invention is to provide means whereby the size of the cushion and padding applied thereto may be quickly and effectively varied at will. I

A still further object of the invention is to provide av table in conjunction with the the cushion stuffing mechanism on which the same is mounted which may be used for holding the raw material required in the operation of the device.

In carrying out my invention I provide a table or bench on which the entire mechanism is mounted with a removable shelf positioned over a portion of the'operating mechanism to expose principally the receptacle in which the padding in placed when the cushion is being stuffed and the operating levers necessary for manipulating the mechanism I form thereccptacle for the padding with a pair of hinged doors adapted to he forced together by an arm to highly com mess the padding prior to being inserted within the cushion. I further provide the receptacle in two sections with means for adj ustably moving the sections with the doors hinged thereto relative to each other so as to vary the width of the receptacle.

The full objects and advantages of my 7 invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof and are partic- .ularly pointed out in the, claims.

In the drawings; illustrating the application of my invention in one form Figure 1 is a vention.

Figure is a plan view of a portion of the invention shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of my invention with part shown in section. I

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of the device taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

The structure upon which my invention is mounted comprises principally a bench or flat table 10 having a top 11 and six legs 12, 13, 14c, 15, 16 and 17 rigidly secured to rails 18 and 19 on which said top 11 is supported. A shelf 20 is secured to legs 12, 13, 14: and 15 below the top 11 and provides a space for storing the raw material used in the manufacture of the cushions.

At the forward end of tab-1e 10 towards the left hand side is mounted a padding receptacle indicated at 21 which projects out beyond the table and over which a cushion cover-x22 may be drawn as indicated in Figure 2. The padding is first placed within the receptacle 21 and after the cushperspective view of my inion cover has been drawn over the same said cushion padding is forced into the cover and both the cover and cushion padding discharged from the device in a manner to be presently described.

Member 21, as best indicated in Figures 1 and 3, comprises a pair of enclosure members 24 and 25 formed of sheet iron, which members are bent so as to provide vertical sides 26 and 27 and bottoms 28 and 29. The upper portions of the sides 27 and 28 are secured to angle brackets 30 and 31 which are slidably mounted on the table top .11. These brackets have pairs of depending U- shaped lugs 32 and secured to the same which are adapted to pass through vertical slots 34 and 35 in the top 11. Members 32 and 33 serve as guides for the sections 24 and of the device by means of which said sections may be advanced towards each other or away from each other to vary the width of the cushion at will. Beneath the table top 11 is positioned a shaft 36 which is journaled at one end in a bearing 37 secured to the underside of top 11 and at its other end in abearing 38 fastened to the rail 19. This shaft is provided with right hand threads 39 at one end and left hand threads at the other end, which threaded portions of said shaft are adapted to screw into the respective depending U -shaped lug members 82 and 33 attached to the brackets 30 and 31. By rotating shaft 136 in either direction the members 2d and 25 of the cushion shitting portion o my inv n i n .may be moved towards or away from each other at will. For manipulating shaft 36 Iprovide a hand wheel 4E1 which has a, handle .42 secured thereto. Handle 42, as indicated in Figure 1, is positioned outsidelof the rail 19 where said handle may be easily operated by .the user of the machine. It can hence be clearly seen that with the bottoms-29. and 28 of the cushion stuffing device overlapping each other as indicated infFigure 3, a continuous bottom is formed which may be varied in width as desired.

Hinged to the top of :the side members 25 and of the padding receptacle are two centers 43 and 4415 which. may he opened up to permit an insertion or; the padding within the device or which may be closed as indicated in Figure 3 to completely encase the material on. four sides. In the form of cushionwhichl usually construct I provide a plurality of springs which are usually covered with some suitable fabricand come in a single unit and: a padding e6 extending completely around said spring members on all sides thereof; This padding may be of cotton batting or other suitable material and is placed around the spring unit as the same is inserted into the padding receptacle 21. In order to make? a well padded cushion a suflicient amount o'l padding 4.6 is placed around springs 45 so that when the covers 44 and 43 are closed down uponthe same, said cove-rs exert a pressure upon the entire padding and springs within the men-1 ber 21 thereby tightly packing the same.

To force the covers 43 and M in closed position upon the padding withii-i the device and to hold said covers in their clamping I siti'ons I provide a device best shown in igures 3 and 2. A lever. lfi'is pivoted at one end to a casting 48 secured to a rail 49 which is attached to legs 17 and 15 of the table 10. Lever 47 extends obliquely across the underside of the left hand portion of table 10 and protrudes through a slotted plate 5O attached to leg 16 which plate is provided with a. number of hooks adapted to engage and hold. the said lover t? in a number of vertical positions. Between )1210350 and the casting $8 is )ivo-tcd to l'e L t l ver 47 a swivel head 52- in whic-his rotatably mounted a rod 53 extending upwardly through a guide 54 secured to the table top 11, Rod 53 is provided with an arm'55 which has a depending portion 56 to which is pivotally connected a flat plate 5'7. Plate 57" is adapted to lie-positioned over the two closure members 44. and 43 of the padding receptacle 21 and to force said members downwardly to compress the padding within the device as the lever 47 is forced downwa-r'dly by means 01". a handle 5.8 formed at the ,end thereof. When closure members 43 with notchesirl the same including the.

plate 57 are raised above the device by means of a coil spring 59 attached to said lever and to a portion of the rail 18'. Whe'n it is desired to open the hinged doors 4&3 and 44, the arm is swung: towards theside as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2 where the same is out of the way. In this manner it can be clearly seen that the portion of the invention 21 adapted to receive the padding can be opened 'to permit the padding to be placed within the same and can thereafter be tightly closed to compress the padding within it.

After the padding has been placed in member21 the cover of a cushion such as indicated at 22 in Figure 2 is slipped over the protruding end o flnember 2-1 and the padding within said member forced out wardly to c-ausethe same to occupy the extreme end of said cover member and to gradually force said cover member oil" from the padding receptacle 21 so that when the cushion is completely ejected from the member 21, cover member has-been completely removed and the padding within the same occupies the entire space.

The device for causing-the, ejection of the cushion comprises primarily a plunger 259 which is secured to a beam 60 slidubly mounted between two guide members 61 and 62 secured to the table top 11. Plunger 259 is adapted to pass between the portion 4l3-445 and 2928 of member 21 and is of awidth less than the smallest size to which this member 21 can he formed so that said plunger is at all times in a position to operate upon the cushion within said member. For actuating plunger 259 I provide a rope or cable (53' which is attached to a depending ariu (i i secured to the undorside of beam 60 and which operates in a slot (35 formed in'thc table 11% Cahle 6?,

follows along the underside ol" ta lil'e 11.].

parallel to the beam 60 and at a point adjacent the beginning o t-the mei'nber 21 passes over a'pulley 66 and from thence it passes obliquely to and over another pulley 67 after which itextends downwardly and is secured" to a foot operated treadflc 68. 'Treadle (58 Issecured' by means of a hlnge 69 to a rail 70' supported on-legs 15 and 17' as will be noted in Figure 4. As said treadle is depressed by placing the foot on the same.

beam 60 together with the plunger 59 is caused to travel forward this bearing against the end of the spring and padding 46 placed around the same, causing both of these cushion members to be projected into the cover 22 as previously specified. Extending rearwardly from the depending arms 64 I provide another rope or cable 71 which, passes ovter a pulley 72 mounted on the underside of table 11 which has attached to it a counter-weight 7 3 normally positioned close to the floor. As plunger 59 is manipulated to eject the cushion within member 21 weight 73 is lifted to its position shown in dotted lines in Figure at and upon releasing the treadle 68, said weight 73 causes beam and plunger 59 attached thereto to be returned toits normal position. In this manner the device is caused to reset itself to its normal position leaving the member 21 empty and ready to be refilled with another cushion.

To cover up the plunger 59 and the operating mechanism therefor I provide a shelf 7 which is supported above the beam 60 and the guide members 61 and 62' by means of three walls 75, 76 and 77 to which the same is attached. This shelf forms a place where the raw material used for constructing the cushion may be placed before the same is incorporated into the cushion and said shelf may be readily removed when access to the working parts of the plunger is desired.

' The advantages of my invention are manitest. The device is exceedingly simple in construction and is very effective and positive in action. A great amount of padding can be placed around the spring members inserted into the cushion and the same force within the cover member of the cushion so that the cushion has a smooth and uniform surface and still be well filled out and suitably padded, A man can operate this device at a high rate of speed turning out a great many more cushions than he could otherwise have done by hand.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principles of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the construction shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set forth within the scope of the 'tollt, \\"ing claims.

I claim:

1. A stufing machine comprising a cushion receptacle, said receptacle being positioned in fixed relation to the machine, hinged closure members connected to said receptacle, a horizontal arm adapted to swing over and above said cushionreceptacle, a plate connected to said arm and adapted to engage said closure members and means for drawing said arm and plate downward to compress the stufling within said receptacle.

2. A stufling machine comprising a cushion receptacle, said receptacle being positioned in fixed relation to the machine, hinged closure members connected tosaid receptacle, a horizontal arm adapted to swing over and above said cushion receptacle, a plate connected to said arm and adapted to engage said closure members, a vertical shank formed on said arm pivotally and slidably mounted relative to said receptacle and a lever connectedto the lower end of said shank for forcing the same downwardly to compress the stuliing within said receptacle.

3. A stufling machine comprising a cushion receptacle, said receptacle being positioned in fixed relation to the machine, hinged closure members connected to said receptacle, a horizontal arm adapted to swing over and above said cushion receptacle, a plate connected to said arm and adapted to engage said closure members, a vertical shank formed on said arm pivotally and slidably mounted relative to said receptacle and a lever connected to the lower end of said shank for forcing the same downwardly to compress the stufling within said receptacle, and means for locking said lever in clamping position.

4:. A cushion stuffing machine including a padding receptacle open at its top adapted to receive the padding therethrough, a pair of hinged closure members adapted to close said open top, a pivoted arm adapted to swing to the side of and above said hinged closure members, a plate on said arm adapted to engage said closure members, and means for forcing said arm downwardly to com press the padding within the receptacle.

5. A cushion stufling machine including a padding receptacle, open at its top adapted to receive the padding therethrough, a pair of hinged closure members adapted to close said open top, a pivoted arm adapted to swing away from and over said hinged closure members. a plate on said arm adapted to engage said closure members, and a lever for forcing said arm against said closure members.

6. A cushion stuiling machine including a padding receptacle open at its top adapted to receive the padding therethrough, a. pair of hinged closure members ad a ptcd to close said open top, a pivoted arm adapted to swing away from and over said hinged closure members, a plate on said arm adapted to engage said closure membcrs, a lever for torcing said arm against said closure meniibers and means for locking said lever in the compressing position of said plate.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOHN A. F LOOD. 

